1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording material sheet conveying (sleet-feeding) device and an automatic image recording system which take an image recording material and an interleaf sheet simultaneously out from a cassette which accommodates the image recording materials, in which an image recording surface is provided on a support, and the interleaf sheets, which are thin-film-like and protect the image recording surface, in a state in which the image recording materials and the interleaf sheets are alternately stacked, and then feed the image recording material and the interleaf sheet to subsequent processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique (printing plate precursor exposing device) has come to be developed which, by using an image recording material (printing plate precursor) in which an image recording surface (a photosensitive layer) is provided on a support, records an image directly by a laser beam or the like onto the photosensitive layer of the printing plate precursor. With such a technique, it is possible to quickly record an image onto a printing plate precursor (which will be called a printing plate hereinafter).
In an automatic printing plate exposing device which records images onto printing plates, the printing plates are taken out one-by-one from a cassette in which a plurality of the printing plates are stacked, and are fed to an exposure section (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 2000-247489 and 2000-247459).
Here, when the printing plates are stacked in the cassette, in order to prevent the photosensitive layers thereof from being scratched, interleaf sheets, which are thin-film-like protective sheets, are inserted between the printing plates. Thus, within the cassette, the printing plates and the interleaf sheets are stacked alternately.
The interleaf sheet has the important function of protecting, in particular, the photosensitive layer of the printing plate. However, the interleaf sheet is not needed at the time of exposure in the exposure section. Therefore, the interleaf sheet must be taken out from the cassette and taken off of the printing plate by the time the printing plate reaches the exposure section.
When the printing plate is taken out from the cassette, the material which exists next as the uppermost layer in the cassette is an interleaf sheet. The interleaf sheet must be taken off by a different mechanism and via a different path. The current situation is that the printing plates and the interleaf sheets are separately taken out one-by-one from the cassette.
In this way, the interleaf sheet must be eliminated from the cassette by a separate mechanism, there are various restrictions on conventional sheet conveying devices which convey printing plates from the cassette to the exposure section, and a complex structure is required.
Moreover, also at the time when printing plate is carried out of the cassette and is automatically conveyed to an image recording device, the existence of the interleaf sheet is an obstacle to automation and leads to a deterioration in work efficiency.